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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




A NEW READING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



JJ Startling Religious fjiscoverg. 



A_ LECTURE 



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CHARLES -I. GUiTEAU 

Lawyer and Theologian. 

(Ashland Block. Chicago.) 



There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see 
the Ron of man coming in His Kingdom. Matt. xvi. : 23. 

When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that your 
redemption draweth nigh. Luke xxi. : 20-28. 



Price 25 Cents; the Trade Supplied at $20 per Hundred, by 

JANSEN. McCLURG & CO., CHICAGO. 

1877. 




A LECTURE 



ON 



* A f f P 

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V v J J J 



BY 



CHAELES J. GUITEAU. 



Lawyer and Theologian. 



* w If I will that he" (John) "tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" 

John xxi.: 22. 

"When the j- persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say 
unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man 
be come." 

Matt. x. : 23. 



CHICAGO: 
J. J. Spalding & Co.. Printebs, 158 Clark Street. 

1877. 











Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1877, by 

CHARLES J. GUITEAU, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



This lecture, it is believed, contains the truth about Christ's 
Second Coming, which has been hid these ages, and the author asks 
for it a careful and prayerful reception. He is in full sympathy with 
the Evangelical churches and desires their active support herein. 
For four years, at home and abroad, Mr. Moody has turned the hearts 
of the people to the Master, and now the author asks them to search 
the Bible, with the aid of this Lecture, that they may know the truth 
concerning the Second Coming of the Son of Man. 

Chicago, May, 1877 . 




For eighteen centuries Christendom has expected the second 
coming of Christ. From father to son, from generation to gene- 
ration, this idea has come down from the primitive church. He 
never has come (save as herein stated), and never will. In 
examining this subject we wipe away the tradition, and mist, 
and unbelief of past ages, and stand on the words of Jesus 
Christ, and the expectations of Paul and the primitive Christians. 
We imagine ourselves with Christ and Paul in Judea. We be- 
lieve they said what they meant, and meant what they said. 
They were addressing plain people, and we take them at their 
words. 

In Matthew x. 23, we have the first reference to Christ's com- 
ing. Therein He tells His disciples: "When they persecute 
you in this city, flee ye into another ; for verily — i. e. y truly, 
truly, mark what I say — I say unto you, ye shall not have gone 
over the cities of Israel till 



THE SON OF MAN BE COME." 

In Matthew xvi. 28, Mark ix. 1, and Luke ix. 27. (We quote 
Matthew. Mark and Luke record the same idea, and so does 
John, in John xxi. 22.) " Verily I say unto you, there be some 
standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son 
of Man coming in His Kingdom;" in Luke x. 9, "to heal the 
sick and preach the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you ;" 
in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth verses, that if any city receive 
them not, they are still to preach, " The Kingdom of God is 



6 CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D 70. 

come nigh unto you " (meaning their hearers) ; in verse twelve, 
" That it shall be more tolerable in that day (meaning the day 
of His coming, when He would judge them), than for that 
city;" in Luke xii. 35, to keep " their lights burning;" in verse 
thirty-six, "And be ye yourselves like unto men that wait for. 
their lord when he will return from the wedding ; that when he 
cometh and knocketh they may open unto him immediately ;" 
in verse forty, "Be ye therefore ready, for the Son' of Man 
cometh at an hour when ye think not ;" in verse fifty-six, ad- 
dressing the people, '• Ye hypocrites ! Ye can discern the face 
of the sky and of the earth ; but how is it that ye discern not 
this time?" (thereby meaning the time of their judgment, at 
His coming, then close at hand) ; in Matthew xxvi. 29 (Mark 
xiv. 25, and Luke xxii. 16-18, also record the same idea), " I say 
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of this vine (He 
is talking about the Lord's Supper) until that day (meaning the 
day of His coming) when I drink it with you in My Father's 
Kingdom." All this plainly means that Christ said He would 
" come again," within the lifetime of His contemporaries, and 
take His disciples with Him to glory. 

In Luke xvii. 24, 25, Christ says, associating the idea of His 
coming with the words " this generation " (by the words " this 
generation" He always means His contemporaries), "For as 
the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under Heaven 
shineth unto the other part under Heaven, so shall also the Son 
of Man be in His day. But first must He suffer many things, 
and be rejected of this generation" (meaning his contemporaries). 
In Matthew xxiv. 34, (also Mark xiii. 30, and Luke xxi. 32,) 
Christ uses the word " generation " with the same meaning. 
Therein He says : " Verily — i. e., truly — I say unto you, 

THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS 

till all these things be fullrilled ;" viz., the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem (which occurred A. D. 70) and His second coming. " Hea- 
ven and earth," Christ adds (verse 35), with terrible emphasis, 



CHRIST S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 7 

" shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away," and 
therefore we conclude He came at the destruction of Jerusalem, 
"in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory " — i. e., 
within the generation of His contemporaries. 

In the 14th, 15th, 1 6th, and 17th chapters of John (he only 
records it) Christ discourses tenderly to His disciples (not to the 
world) as He is about to leave them and return to the bosom of 
the Father. Among other cheering things, He tells them : "In 
My Father's house are many mansions ; if it were not so, I 
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And 
if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and 
receive you unto Myself; that where I am there ye may 
be also." — John xiv. 2, 3. " I will not leave you comfort- 
less ; I will come to you. 'Yet a little while and the world 
seeth Me no more. At that day (meaning the day of His 
'second coming) ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye 
in Me and I in you." — John xiv. 18, 19. "Ye have heard how I 
said unto you, I go away and come again unto you." — John xiv. 
28. " If I will that he (John) tarry till I come, what is that to 
thee ?" says Christ to Peter (John xxi. 22), which is a clear in- 
timation that John should live till Christ came — i. e., till the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70. 

THE LOCALITY OF CHRIST'S COMING. 

The locality of Christ's coming was " in theLclouds of Hea- 
ven," directly over Jerusalem — i. e. y at the place of His greatest 
earthly agony. At His first coming He was crucified at Jerusa- 
lem. At His second coming he stood over Jerusalem, " in the 
clouds of Heaven with power and great glory," judging the 
" quick and dead." 

THE TIME OF CHRIST'S COMING. 

We ascertain the time of Christ's coming thus : " Immediate- 
ly after the tribulation of those days," — u e. t immediately after 
the destruction of Jerusalem and the tribulation preceding it, 



8 CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 

says Matthews xxiv. 29, 30, 31 ; (also Mark xiii. 24, 25, 26, 27, 
and Luke xxi. 25, 26, 27, 28,) " shall the sun be darkened, and 
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from 
Heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ; and 
then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven and 
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they — i. e., " the 
tribes," (see Revelation i. 7,) shall see the Son of Man coming 
in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And He 
shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they 
shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one 
end of heaven to the other." Again, he says, Matthew xxiv, 
33 : " When ye shall see all these things," meaning the desola- 
tion of Jerusalem and the tribulation preceding it, " know that 
it," i. e., My coming "is near, even at the doors." Again, he 
says, Luke xxi. 20: " When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed 
with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh," i. 
e ti that Jerusalem is about to be destroyed, and my words con- 
cerning it fullfilled, " and when these things (he continues in 
verse 28) begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your 
heads, for your redemption draweth nigh," i. e., that " I am 
about to come and take you with me to glory," and, therefore, 
we conclude : (1), that the destruction of Jerusalem ; (2), the 
coming of Christ; and (3), as the consequence of His coming 
the " redemption" of his disciples, to whom he was speaking, 
were simultaneous events. 

JERUSALEM DESTROYED. 

In Matthew xxiv. (also, Mark xiii., and Luke xxi.) Christ pre- 
dicts the occurrence of certain events, before his coming, which 
we now examine. "Verily I say unto you (verse 2), there 
shall not be left here (meaning the temple) one stone upon an- 
other, that shall not be thrown down." History records the 
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple thus : " About A. D. 66 
(American Cyclopedia, vol. 9, 621) the Jews, goaded to despair 
by the tyranny of the Romans, revolted, took possession of Jeru- 



CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 9 

salem and defeated a Roman army commanded by Certius Gal- 
lus, Governor of Syria. This was the beginning of the disas- 
trous war which ended in the complete destruction of Jerusalem; 
In A. D. 70, Titus, after a long and vigorous siege, took the 
city, and his soldiery, maddened by the obstinate resistance of 
the .defenders and their own repeated fruitless attempts and 
great losses, spared neither age nor sex. Thousands of Jews, 
seeing all hope lost, threw themselves headlong from the towers, 
turned their swords against their own breasts, rushed into the 
flames, or fell fighting the enemy. Titus himself was unable to 
control the rage of his troops, and with regret saw the temple 
destroyed by the flames, and the principal towers demolished, 
which he had intended to preserve as memorials of his own vic- 
tories." According to Josephus, 1,100,000 Jews perished in this 
siege, and 97,000 were carried into captivity. The walls of 
'Jerusalem were leveled, the dwellings demolished, the temple 
burned, and Mount Moriah literally plowed over ; and thus 
Christ's prediction, made A. D. 33, or shortly before his cruci- 
fixion, was literally fullfilled. Everything he foretold concern- 
ing the temple, city, and people of the Jews was fulfilled in the 
most astonishing manner. It was witnessed by Josephus, a 
Jewish contemporary of Christ, and who is acknowledged to be a 
historian of indisputable veracity on all those transactions con- 
cerning the destruction of Jerusalem. The wars and rumors of 
wars, the Antichrists, the famines, the pestilences, the earth- 
quakes, the " great tribulation such as was not since the begin- 
ning of the world; no, nor ever shall be," etc., etc., spoken of 
by the evangelists <as events preceding Christ's coming, all came 
to pass prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. Josephus records 
the occurrence of these great events as a matter of history of 
which he was an eye-witness ; but he knew nothing of the 
Scripture containing Christ's prophecy. He speaks contempt- 
uously of Christ, as " one Jesus, a country fellow, who went about 
crying with a loud voice, ' Woe, woe, to the city, to the people, 
and to the temple.' " The whole land of Judea is represented at 



io CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. IX 70. 

that time, "as a woman in grievous travail." Christ Himself 
said upon that generation (meaning his contemporaries) should 
" come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth." " Verily, 

1 say unto you, all these things shall come upon this genera- 
tion." (Matthew xxiii. 35, 36.) And it did come. Christ's 
contemporaries crucified God's only Son, and, therefore, the" Al- 
mighty cursed them by sending upon them " such tribulation as 
was not since the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall 
be." (Matthew xxiv. 21.) All this would immediately precede 
Christ's coming, and therefore we conclude He came immedi- 
ately after these events, i. e. y at the destruction of Jerusalem, A. 
D. 70. 

. In Matt. xxiv. 14, Christ says, "The gospel must be preached 
in all the world (meaning as it existed in His day), for a witness 
unto all nations, and then shall the end come " (not the end 
of the world, but of the primitive church and Jewish nation. 
They were judged both quick and dead at Christ's coming.) 

Paul records the universal publication of the gospel thus, 
Rom. i. 8 : " Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world" 
(meaning the world as it existed in his day). Rom. x. 18, Your 
faith is spoken of " unto the ends of the world." Col. i. 23, The 
gospel was " preached to every creature under heaven," whereof 
he was a minister. 1 Thess. i. 8, "Your faith is spoken of in 
every place." 2 Thess. i. 3, "Your faith groweth exceedingly." 

2 Tim. iv, 17, That he had preached the gospel unto "all the gen- 
tiles." And, therefore, on the words of Jesus Christ that the 
end should come immediately after 

THE UNIVERSAL PUBLICATION OF THE GOSPEL, 

we conclude the end did come ; i. <?., the end of the primitive 
church and Jewish nation, which He judged at His second 
coming. 

THE ADVENT OF ANTICHRIST. 

The coming of Antichrist is predicted before Christ's coming 
in Matt. xxiv. 5, 11, 24 ; in 2 Thess. ii. 3 ; in 2 Tim. iii. 1 to 9, 



CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A.B.yo. 1 1 

13 ; in 2 Peter ii. I, 2 ; in 2 Peter iii. 3, 4; in 1 John iv. 1 ; 
and Jude 18, 19. In 1 John ii. 18, 19, 22, and 1 John iv. 3, 
we are told that Antichrist has come, whereby " we know it is 
the last time," thereby meaning that John and his contempor- 
aries knew they were on the verge of Christ's coming, because 
the appearance of Antichrist was the sure sign that Christ 
would speedily appear. John wrote about A. D. 69, or a year 
before the destruction of Jerusalem. 

HOW CHRIST CAME. 

" Behold He cometh with clouds (Rev. i. 7), and every eye 
shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him, and all the 
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.'* Christ, at His 
second coming, was a conquering hero. He judged the right- 
eous and wicked, the quick and dead, of the primitive church 
and Jewish nation, and they did "see Him" coming "with 
power 'and great glory.' * 

• " For, as the lightning cometh out of the east (says Christ, 
Matthew xxiv. 27), and shineth even unto the west, so shall 
also the coming of the Son of Man be ;" i. e. t it was an instan- 
taneous event, "in the clouds of heaven." He came like 
a thief at night, snatched the righteous part of the primitive 
church and the righteous dead of past ages, and hurried 
with them into glory. Perhaps the memory of His sufferings 
here below haunted Him, and He tarried not ! He came like 
a mighty rushing wind, destroyed Jerusalem, judged the wicked, 
took His own, and back He went to the bosom of the Father. 
Since then He has 'ruled the nations of the earth. 

On nearly 

EVERY PAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

we find the speedy coming of Christ " in the clouds of heaven 
with power and great glory," held up by Matthew, Mark, Luke 
and John, whose testimony we have examined, and by Paul, 
Peter, James and John the Revelator, whose expectations we now 
examine, as an event which would give to the "saints" of the prim- 



12 CHXIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 

itive church and Jewish nation a secure and glorious redemption. 
It was the consummation of their effort — the reward of their faith 
and devotion to the Master, and yet, for eighteen centuries 
Christendom has known it not ! The very curse, Paul says (2 
Thes. ii. 11) should come upon the church has been upon it 
since Christ came A. D. 70. " And for this cause (thereby 
meaning the unbelief of the Antichrist part of the primitive 
church, concerning Christ's coming, then at hand), God shall 
send them (meaning the Antichrist part of the primitive 
church, and which the so-called Christian church since has 
represented) strong delusion," that they should " believe a lie," 
and Christendom for eighteen centuries has not known the 
truth touching Christ's second coming. 

THE APOSTLES' EXPECTATIONS. 

The magnitude and ramifications of this subject will not 
permit of an exhaustive review in one lecture. We shall exam- 
ine it in detail hereafter. We now show the expectations of 
Paul and Peter and James and Jude and John the Revelator, 
concerning this great event, to the end, we may establish be- 
yond controversy that Jesus Christ said he would " come again " 
within the lifetime of his contemporaries; that the primitive. 
Christians were daily and hourly expecting His return to take 
them with Him to glory ; and that, as a matter of fact, He did 
come at the destruction of Jerusalem, " in the clouds of heaven, 
with power and great glory." In examining this subject we 
pierce the tradition and unbelief of eighteen centuries. We 
want to know the truth concerning this great event. We believe 
we have received it, and that it is destined to revolutionize the 
theology of Christendom. We stand on the words of Jesus 
Christ concerning his own coming, of Paul, his great apostle, of 
John the Revelator, of James, and of Jude. 

peter's notion. 
Peter's notion, 2 Peter iii. 10, that the " burning up " of this 
physical globe and Christ's coming are simultaneous events, we 



CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 13 

are bold to reject in view of his record, as uninspired and false. 
He alone had that idea. Christ and Paul and John taught it 
not. And yet, even Peter expected the coming of Christ within 
the lifetime of his contemporaries. In 1 Peter iv. 7, he says, 
" The end of all things is at hand," /. e., I expect the speedy 
coming of Christ ; in 2 Peter i. 16, he speaks of the " coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ ;" in 2 Peter iii. 10, "the day of the Lord 
will come as a thief in the night ;" in 2 Peter iii. 12, " looking for 
and hastening unto the coming of the day of God." 
We live nearly 1,900 years after Peter, and this globe has not 

' burned yet. And, therefore, we conclude his notion, that 
Christ's coming and the burning up of this earth are simultan- 
eous events, savors of the things of man, and not of God. Peter 
was a bold, impulsive, unlearned man. In many things " he was 
.to be blamed." Paul "withstood him to the face." Peter 
11 rebuked" the Master. No other disciple had the impudence 
to do that. He, thrice, solemnly denied the Son of Man in the 
darkest hour of His life on earth ! In Luke xxii. 31, 32, Christ 
says to Peter : " behold, Satan hath desired to have you, but I 
have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. When thou art 
converted, strengthen thy brethren." In Ephesians ii. 7, Paul 
says : "That in the ages to come He (z. e. } God) might show the 
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us 
through Christ Jesus," which opposes Peter's notion that the 
" burning up " of the earth and Christ's coming (which he him- 
self believed was at hand when on earth) are simultaneous 

' events. We believe Peter's notion — that Christ's coming and 
the destruction of this physical universe are simultaneous events 
— has darkened the mind of Christendom these eighteen cen- 
turies, touching His coming, more than anything in the Bible, 
and we submit it is high time he was rebuked. His idea is 
false, unscriptural, and a libel on Jesus Christ and Paul. If 
they had had such an idea they would have stated it. For 
eighteen centuries Christendom has argued thus : In 2 Peter iii. 
10, 11, 12, it is said Christ's coming and the " burning up " of 



14 CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D.70. 

the earth are simultaneous events. The earth has not burned 
yet ; therefore, Christ has not yet come. Therefore, we expect 
Him, and Christendom for eighteen centuries has expected Him 
— in vain. He never has come (save as herein stated), and 
never will. 

WHY GOD ALLOWED PETER'S NOTION TO GO INTO THE BIBLE. 

God wanted to curse the Antichrist part of the primitive 
church on account of their unbelief concerning the coming of 
Christ, and which the so-called Christian church since has rep- 
resented, and therefore allowed Peter's notion to go into the 
Bible. See 2 Thess. ii. 11. Hereafter we shall develop this 
idea, and show that the Antichrist part of the primitive church 
and its successor, modern Christianity, are one and the same. 
The Christianity of Paul's church was wonderfully different in 
Spirituality and Holy Ghost power from any church since his 
time. We gladly admit many righteous people have lived 
on earth since Christ came, A. D. 70, but we insist that Christi- 
anity, as a church organization, has been a mockery. There 
has been no power in the church these eighteen centuries. 

WHAT PAUL SAYS. 

Paul's expectations concerning Christ's coming we gather thus : 
Rom. xiii. 12, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand;" 
1 Cor. i. 7, " Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" 
1 Cor. i. 8, " That ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord 
Jesus Christ;" 1 Cor. iv. 5, "Judge nothing, before the time, 
until the Lord come ;" 1 Cor. vii. 29, " The time is short " (i. e., 
I expect the speedy coming of Christ); 1 Cor. xiii. 12, "Now, 
we see through a glass, darkly; but then (referring fc^Christ's 
coming) face to face ;" 1 Cor. xv. 51, "We shall not all sleep " 
^meaning thereby that some of his contemporaries" MToM i d -li ve 
till Christ came); 2 Cor. i. 14, He speaks of their rejoicing in 
" the day of the Lord Jesus ;" Phil. i. 6, " He which hath begun 
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ ;" 
Phil. i. 10, They are to be "without offense till the day of 



CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 15 

Christ ;" Phil. ii. 16, " That I may rejoice in the day of Christ ;" 
Phil. iii. 20, "For our conversation is in heaven, from whence 
also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ;" Phil. iv. 
5, "The Lord is at hand;" Col. iii. 4, "When Christ, who is 
life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory ;" 

1 Thess. ii. 19, "Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord 
Jesus Christ at His coming?" 1 Thess. iii. 13, He speaks of 
their hearts being established "in holiness before God, even our 
Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His 
saints;" 1 Thess. iv. 15, 16, 17, He says, "We which are alive 
and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall be caught up 
together with them (meaning the 'dead in Christ') in the 
clouds to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be 
with the Lord;" 1 Thess. v. 2, " The day of the Lord so cometh 
as a thief in the night ;" 1 Thess. v. 4, " But ye brethren are not 
in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief;" 1 
Thess. v. 6, " Therefore, let us watch and be sober ;" 1 Thess. 
v. 23, " I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be pre- 
served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" 

2 Thess. i. 7, " Rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be 
revealed from heaven, with His mighty angels;" 2 Thess. i. 8, 
" In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God 
and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ;" 2 Thess. i. 
9, " Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power ;" 2 Thess. 
i. 10, " When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and 
to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony 
among you Vas believed) in that day;" thereby meaning the 
day of Christ's coming, which occurred at the destruction of 
Jerusalem, A. D. 70, when he judged the primitive church and 
Jewish nation. 2 Thess. ii. 1, 2, "That ye be not soon shaken 
in mind " on account of the speedy coming " of our Lord Jesus 
Christ;" "The day of Christ is at hand." In 2 Thess. ii. 3, 
Paul predicts the coming of Antichrist before " that day shall 
come " (meaning the day of Christ's coming). In verse 7, he 



1 6 CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 

says, "the mystery of iniquity doth already work." In 1 John ii. 
18, and iv. 3 (as already noticed), we have the fulfillment of 
Paul's prediction. 2 Thess. iii. 5, " The Lord direct your hearts 
into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ." 

1 Tim. vi. 14, "That thou keep this commandment without spot, 
unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ;" 

2 Tim. i. 10, He speaks of the "appearing of our Saviour Jesus 
Christ ;" 2 Tim. i. 18, " The Lord grant unto him (Onesiphorus) 
that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day " (meaning the 
day of Christ's coming). In 2 Tim. iv. 1, 2, 3, Paul says, " That 
Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and the dead at his appear- 
ing," and exhorts Timothy " to preach the word in season and out 
of season," for the " time would come when they would not endure 
sound doctrine, but after their own lusts heap to themselves 
teachers having itching ears," and they should turn away their 
ears from the truth, and " be turned unto fables " (thereby mean- 
ing that Antichrist was abroad, which was a sure sign that 
Christ would speedily appear). 2 Tim. iv. 8, he speaks of a 
" crown of righteousness" which Christ would give him at His 
coming, and to them also " who love His appearing." Titus ii. 
13, " Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing 
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Heb. x. 37, "For 
yet a little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will not 
tarry." 

JAMES ON THE ADVENT. 

James' expectations we gather~thus : James v. 7, "'Be patient, 
therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." James v. 8, 
"Be ye also patient ; establish your hearts ; for the coming of the 
Lord draweth nigh." James v. 9 " Behold, the judge standeth 
before the door." 

VIEWS OF JOHN. 

John wrote in the very last days of the primitive church, and 
we gather his expectations thus: 1 John ii. 18, " Little children 
(how tenderly he speaks), it is the last time (as Christ is 
about to appear and take us with Him to glory), and as ye 



CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 17 

have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many 
Antichrists, whereby we know it is the last time." 1 John 
ii. 28, "And now little children, abide in Him, that when he 
shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed be- 
fore Him at His coming." 1 John iii. 2, " Beloved, now are 
we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall 
be ; but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like 
Him." 1 John iii. 19, " We are of the truth, and shall assure 
our hearts before Him." Jude xxi., " Keep yourselves in the 
love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto 
eternal life." 

We now examine 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION 

concerning Christ's second coming. In Rev. i. i,we are told 
the things therein mentioned "must shortly come to pass." In 
verse 11, Jesus Christ says, " I am Alpha and Omega, the first 
and the last ;" in verse 18, "I am He that liveth and was dead ; 
and behold I am alive forevermore, Amen ; and have the keys 
r of hell and of death ;" in Rev. ii. 5, unto the angel of the Church 
of Ephesus, " Repent, or I will come unto thee quickly; " in verse 
16, unto the angel of the Church in Pergamos, " Repent or I 
will come unto thee quickly ;" in verse 25, unto the angel of the 
Church in Thyatira, " That which ye have already, hold fast till 
I come ;" in Rev. iii. 3, unto the angel of the Church in Sardis, 
"If thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief;" in 
verse ii,"Behold M I come quickly;" in verse 20, "Behold I 
stand at the door and knock ;" in Rev. xi. 14, " The second woe 
is past, and behold the third woe cometh quickly ;" in Rev. xvi. 
15, " Behold I come as a thief;" in Rev. xix. 7, " For the mar- 
riage of the Lamb is come ;" in Rev. xxii. 6, he speaks of things 
"which must shortly be done;" in verse 7, "Behold I come 
quickly;" in verse 10, " The time is at hand;" in verse 12, 
" Behold, I come quickly to reward every man according to his 
works;" in verse 13, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
and the end, the first and the last." The very last words Jesus 



18 CHRIST S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 

Christ says in the Bible (Rev. xxii. 20), are : " Surely I come 
quickly." " Even so," says John, " come, Lord Jesus." 
We have now examined 

EVERY VERSE 'IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 

touching Christ's second coming. Can any rational mind doubt 
but Jesus Christ said He would " come again" within the lifetime 
of his contemporaries ; that Paul and the leaders of the primi- 
tive church expected Him, and that, as a matter of fact he did 
come at the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70, " in the clouds 
of Heaven, with power and great glory," and judge the primi- 
tive church and Jewish nation ? We submit this question to 
Christendom, and await an answer. We are ready to defend 
these views at any time and place. We believe we have received 
the truth concerning Christ's second coming, and we shall de- 
vote our life to preaching this gospel. For four years, at home 
and abroad, 

MR. MOODY HAS TURNED THE HEARTS 

of the people to the Master, and now we ask them to search 
the Bible to find out the truth concerning the second coming 
of the Son of Man. 

In the interest of a sound theology it is of the utmost impor- 
tance to know the truth about Christ's second coming. It is 
useless for Christendom to hope and pray for His coming, because 
it is a fact already accomplished. They may as well look it square 
in the face and adapt their faith and conduct to the fact. It is 
believed these views are destined to revolutionize the theology 
of eighteen centuries. Christendom must have a new theology 
— a theology to fit the fact that Christ came A. D. 70, and there- 
fore never will again. 

The great practical effect of this doctrine will be to establish 
the faith of Christendom in the Bible. This doctrine throws a 
calcium light upon the New Testament. It illuminates its other- 
wise mysterious words, verses, and chapters. No one can under- 



^^ 



CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 19 

stand the Bible without this theory of the second coming. It is 
a living stream of water running through the New Testament. 
This doctrine is the missing link, uniting primitive Christianity 
with modern Christianity, and, it is believed, Holy Ghost power 
will come to the church by a belief in this doctrine. 

This doctrine ends the communion : " Do this," says Christ, 
11 in remembrance of me, till I come." If we behold His com- 
ing eighteen centuries in the past, an ordinance commemorating 
Him as a conquering Hero would be appropriate. 

A correct knowledge of Christ's second coming is almost as 
important as a knowledge of His first coming. At His first 
coming He was crucified . at Jerusalem amid the scoffs of the 
world. At His second coming he was a conquering hero. He 
then judged the Jewish nation and primitive church, and since 
then He has ruled the nations of the earth. 

JUDGMENT, SAYS PAUL, 

"comes first to the Jews ; then to the Gentiles. At Christ's 
second coming God judged the Jews as a nation. For two 
thousand years, i. e., since His covenant with Abraham, He sent 
upon them the rain and sunshine of religious discipline, and the 
harvest was reaped at Christ's second coming. For nearly 
two thousand years, i. e. t since Christ's coming, A. D. 70, the 
Gentiles have been under His care, and we believe the Gentile 
harvest is now at hand. (We shall develop this idea hereafter.) 
We believe we are living in " the dispensation of the fullness of 
times" (Eph. i. 10, Rom. xi. 25) ; that the second resurrection 
and final judgment are in the immediate future, which will end 
the Gentile harvest. At the final judgment Christ will judge the 
world from His throne in heaven, and He has no need to return 
to earth for any purpose. 

We epitomize the history of the race thus : Adam, Noah, 
Abraham, Christ's birth, Christ's death and resurrection, Christ's 
second coming, A. D. 70. Christ's second coming is the pivotal 



20 



CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, A. D. 70. 



fact of history. Standing on it we gaze up and down the ages. 
We look back to Adam and forward to the present. We cannot 
extend the limits of this lecture. Hereafter we shall review his- 
tory, profane and sacred; standing on Christ's coming A. D. 70, 
as the greatest fact of history. 

We believe these views are destined to shake Christendom 
worse 

THAN MARTIN LUTHER DID 

r. 

three centuries ago. We believe they are destined to unite 
all evangelical churches in Tabernacle form of worship, doing 
away with gorgeous and half-paid-for churches, to the end 
that the glory of God in these latter days may cover the earth 
as the waters cover the sea. We need the faith and simplicity 
of apostolic times, now that God is drawing near to earth once 
more. Men like John the Baptist, Paul the apostle, Luther, 
Calvin, Knox, Wesley, have been the world's reformers. 
Every one of them was a reformer, because he was a theologian 
who believed, and preached, and fought for the pure doctrines 
of the Word of God. 



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